Governor Satya Pal Malik Transferred To Goa; 2 LGs Appointed For Jammu And Kashmir, Ladakh

In a massive administration reshuffle, IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Radha Krishna Mathur has been assigned to take charge as the Lt. Governor of Ladakh.

Governor Satya Pal Malik has been transferred and made the Governor of Goa. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: In a massive administration reshuffle, IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Radha Krishna Mathur has been assigned to take charge as the Lt. Governor of Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir's present Governor Satya Pal Malik has been transferred and made the Governor of Goa. The decision comes months after the two Union Territories (Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh) were created after the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5. PS Sreedharan Pillai as also been appointed as the Governor of Mizoram. According to reports, the appointments were made by President of India Ramnath Kovind on Saturday and the appointments will come into effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices. A 1985 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer from the Gujarat cadre, Murmu is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah, and had served as Principal Secretary to Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. Murmu was appointed OSD in the Expenditure Department in November last year. A communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said that President Ram Nath Kovind has also appointed former Chief Information Commissioner and Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur as the Lt Governor of Ladakh. A 1977 batch IAS officer, of the Tripura Cadre, Mathur had retired as CIC in November 2018 after serving as Defence Secretary from 2013 to 2015. He was also the Chief Secretary of Tripura. The government on August 5 abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one. The formal bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir will come into effect from October 31. According to reports, Murmu was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking up the challenging job of the first Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, which comes into existence as Union territory from October 31. On March 1 this year, Modi elevated Murmu as Expenditure Secretary from his earlier post of Special Secretary, Revenue, Ministry of Finance. Murmu is known for skills in effective implementation of government schemes. Sources told news agency IANS that Murmu, who keeps a low profile, was hitherto handling several important assignments in Revenue Department and later in the Expenditure. As Expenditure Secretary, he worked in close coordination with the Prime Minister's Office as well as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Earlier PM Modi had appointed BVR Subrahmanyam as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, much before the abrogation of Article 370, considered as one of the most important decisions of the Modi government. Subrahmanayam, a senior IAS officer of Chattisgarh cadre, had worked with PM Modi in his first tenure. Sources said PM Modi had personally selected Subrahmanyam for the important role of the Chief Secretarty of Jammu and Kashmir where senior IAS officer demonstrated extraordinary skills in handling law and order and overall administration of a territory which faced curfew for several weeks.